Looking back, this term was a whirlwind of working group calls, writing and review cycles, conference planning, cross-committee coordination, and the kind of collaboration that reminds you why COTE matters: it’s a community of people who keep showing up—because the stakes are real, and because the profession can do more.
This post is my personal recap of the work, the people, and the moments I’ll carry forward.
keep reading to learn more...
As usual, my recaps are generally in chronological order (click to enlarge photos)...
Past Involvement (2018)
Fun fact: before my direct involvement with COTE LG, while I was working at LHB (which has won COTE Top Ten awards), I had the opportunity to review the COTE "Top Ten Toolkit" draft in 2018. This was shared with me by Corey Squire, who, coincidentally, worked at Lake Flato at the time. This document went on to become the AIA Framework for Design Excellence, promoted widely by the national AIA!
Before the appointment: Climate Action + Climate Justice (2022)
My formal COTE LG term began in 2023, but my COTE involvement really accelerated the year before, when I joined the COTE Climate Action | Climate Justice subcommittee—initially led by Lori Ferriss and later led by Ellen Mitchell.
In 2023, I wrote about being part of the national subcommittee and supporting the COTE Open Forum with facilitation and breakout leadership—work that felt like an early “on-ramp” into what the Leadership Group is really about: convening practitioners, sharing tools, and translating values into action. (BIM Chapters)
That Climate Action–Climate Justice effort has been described as the force behind “Climate Justice in Architecture”—a framework that insists climate work isn’t only technical, but also about equity, inclusion, and who benefits (or is burdened) by design decisions. (AIA Community Hub)
One of the most meaningful behind-the-scenes efforts of our Climate Action / Climate Justice subcommittee was commissioning the Climate Justice in Architecture stories/case-study resource through a formal RFP process—specifically seeking case studies that paired climate action with community-centered, climate-justice outcomes. (AIA Community Hub) We ultimately selected Adele Houghton to lead this work (in partnership with COTE leaders). On a personal note, I already knew Adele’s expertise and perspective, so I reached out directly to encourage her to submit a proposal. (AIA Community Hub) Watching those stories take shape has been a highlight of my term because they translate the Climate Justice in Architecture framework into concrete, practice-facing examples that architects can learn from and build on. (The American Institute of Architects)
2023: Joining the national COTE Leadership Group (and getting to work fast)
In early 2023, I was named as one of four new members welcomed to the COTE Leadership Group that year. (AIA Community Hub)
That first year set the rhythm that would define the whole term:
Monthly video conference meetings
In-person COTE LG meetings at the AIA national conference
The always-energizing COTE Open Forum
Ongoing work across subcommittees (Climate Action/Justice, Comms, policy, and more)
At A’23 in San Francisco, the Open Forum format reinforced what I love about COTE: it’s not just presentations—it’s structured conversation. After a brief formal session, attendees moved into breakout topics spanning climate action/justice, resilience, advocacy, the 2030 Commitment, and local COTE chapter building. (BIM Chapters)
That same week also included COTE programming around the COTE Top Ten Awards and community gatherings that make the conference feel less like a trade show and more like a working meeting for the movement. (BIM Chapters)
2024: Washington, DC—public influence, policy momentum, and the Open Forum spotlight
By AIA24 in Washington, DC, I was deep into the cadence of COTE LG work—and the conference became the yearly milestone where we took stock of progress and set direction for what came next.
A few highlights from that week:
An in-person COTE LG meeting to “plot the future”
We held a focused, in-person Leadership Group meeting to talk strategy—building on the Framework for Design Excellence, the COTE Top Ten programs, and the latest shifts in AIA policy and public-facing statements. (BIM Chapters)
Presenting at the COTE Open Forum
The COTE Open Forum was packed, and I had five minutes to present—sharing highlights from deconstruction policy work in San Antonio. My presentation followed a guest speaker from the White House (who is now a COTE LG member:)) who spoke about market transformation, which underscored how directly policy, design, and implementation were colliding. (BIM Chapters)
Presenting alongside fellow COTE LG member Ellen Mitchell (LPA)
That same conference included a formal session where Ellen Mitchell (LPA) and I presented session highlights—one of several moments during the term where it was clear how much stronger our work becomes when sustainability leadership is paired with clear communication and culture-building inside firms. (BIM Chapters)
2025: Boston—technology + sustainability, and the TAP + COTE symposium
For AIA25 in Boston, my calendar looked like a mosaic of overlapping commitments: multiple sessions, COTE meetings, the Open Forum, and a major cross-community collaboration. (BIM Chapters)
Curating the TAP + COTE daylong symposium
One of the capstone experiences of the term was helping curate the AIA TAP + COTE Symposium—a daylong program designed to address the real intersection we all feel in practice: environmental stewardship requires better workflows, better tools, and better data (and increasingly, better understanding of AI’s role). (BIM Chapters)
In my own event post, I shared the intent: as a COTE LG member, I worked closely with TAP LG to build a symposium inside the larger conference—bringing together panels on regulatory compliance, carbon accounting/LCA, implementation strategies for small and medium firms, and tech-enabled sustainability. (BIM Chapters)
This felt like a fitting “final-year” thread: bridging what I do every day—design technology and design performance—with what COTE has long championed: measurable outcomes, shared accountability, and accessible pathways to better buildings.
A few initiatives I’m especially proud of
A three-year leadership term isn’t one “project.” It’s a portfolio of small decisions and long-running efforts that (hopefully) compound.
Here are a few pieces I’m most proud to have supported:
1) Public policy + position statements: doing the slow work of institutional alignment
Another significant part of my term was supporting AIA’s policy ecosystem—especially the review and update work on AIA’s Public Policies and Position Statements, which express the Institute’s viewpoints and provide a framework for guidance and advocacy. (The American Institute of Architects)
I wrote about this work because it’s easy to underestimate how much effort it takes to update language, build consensus, and align across committees—yet these statements shape how architecture shows up in public discourse. (BIM Chapters)
COTE leaders also publicly documented this as meaningful progress on environmental policy positioning—and I’m grateful to have contributed to that collective push. (AIA Community Hub)
2) Communications: making good work visible (and usable)
I also served on the COTE Communications subcommittee with Kira Gould—supporting the kinds of “connective tissue” tasks that keep a knowledge community alive:
social media support
newsletter contributions
sponsor article review
writing and editorial work
COTE’s impact grows when the work is shared clearly, not just done quietly.
3) Modernizing COTE metrics: bringing the “Super Spreadsheet” into AIA DDx
For years, the COTE Top Ten Super Spreadsheet was a familiar (and sometimes infamous) tool—powerful, but spreadsheet-heavy.
During my term, although I had less involvement in this project than others, the COTE community helped support and roll out new functionality in AIA’s Design Data Exchange (DDx) that incorporates the COTE “super spreadsheet” approach in a more modern platform, with the aim of improving usability and reducing friction for firms tracking and reporting performance. (AIA Community Hub)
This is the kind of infrastructure work that doesn’t always look flashy—but it matters. Metrics only change practice if people can actually use them.
The Open Forum: where COTE feels most like COTE
If I had to name one recurring moment each year that best represents the value of the COTE community, it’s the COTE Open Forum at the national conference.
In 2023, the Open Forum emphasized interactive learning and breakout conversations—where the community could choose topics and dig in together. (BIM Chapters)
In 2024, it became a platform where national policy context (including a White House speaker) met on-the-ground practice, and I had the chance to present alongside COTE leaders and partners. (BIM Chapters)
And in 2025, it continued as a key anchor point in my conference “laundry list,” alongside the in-person LG meeting and the TAP + COTE symposium. (BIM Chapters)
This is where the community becomes real: not a brand, not a committee name—people in a room, comparing notes, sharing what works, and admitting what still doesn’t.
Bringing it home: local COTE, state COTE, and student impact
One of my personal goals during this term was to ensure “national service” didn’t stay national.
Across 2023–2025, I also worked to support and represent COTE LG in:
local and state COTE efforts
practitioner education (especially around performance tools and early modeling)
and student engagement through lectures, reviews, and conference involvement
A standout moment on the student side was delivering the AIAS opening keynote in Austin (early 2025 - see photo below)—a reminder that the next generation is hungry for both climate competence and practical pathways to lead. (BIM Chapters)
Lake Flato and COTE: practice proof that metrics matter
I’d be remiss not to acknowledge how much my day-to-day work at Lake Flato has shaped (and reinforced) my COTE perspective.
Lake Flato has long been closely aligned with the COTE ethos, and I’ve written about the firm’s record of performance recognition—at one point noting that the firm “currently leads the industry” in COTE Top Ten winning projects, with a running list of winning work. (BIM Chapters)
The value for me isn’t the trophy—it’s the evidence that a design culture built around measured outcomes can become repeatable, teachable, and transferable.
The people: gratitude, mentorship, and remembering Ganesh Nayak
COTE is a technical community—but it’s also a profoundly human one.
I’m grateful for the chance to collaborate with and learn from so many people who lead with both competence and care—especially Kira Gould, Lori Ferriss, and Ellen Mitchell, among others.
And I want to pause on one more human note.
In 2025, Ellen Mitchell wrote a moving tribute to Ganesh Nayak, AIA, reflecting on their work together on the Climate Action–Climate Justice working group and how that effort helped propel Climate Justice in Architecture forward. (AIA Community Hub)
I worked with Ganesh at BWBR Architects in St. Paul, Minnesota, many years before we served on the COTE LG together. He ismissed.
That tribute captured something I felt throughout my term: the best COTE work changes not only what we do, but how we see—and who we commit to seeing in our design decisions.
A COTE reading list I’m taking with me
A few pieces from the broader COTE ecosystem that stayed with me (and that I recommend exploring if you want a window into where the community is headed):
Climate Justice in Architecture (AIA resource and taxonomy work) (The American Institute of Architects)
COTE Book Review: Architectural Epidemiology (and the invitation to think about buildings as a public health mechanism) (AIA Community Hub)
TAP + COTE Symposium at AIA25 (a concrete example of tech + sustainability programming designed for practice) (AIA Community Hub)
What I’m carrying forward
As my 2023–2025 term concludes, here are the core takeaways I’m keeping close:
Climate action is now inseparable from practice reality: codes, clients, and culture are shifting—fast.
Climate justice isn’t an “add-on”: it changes the questions we ask, the metrics we value, and the voices we prioritize. (The American Institute of Architects)
Tools matter: better workflows (like DDx improvements) help turn ideals into repeatable action. (AIA Community Hub)
Policy language matters: slow updates to official positions shape faster decisions later. (The American Institute of Architects)
Community is the multiplier: the Open Forum is proof—people learn fastest when they learn together. (BIM Chapters)
Closing
Serving on the AIA COTE Leadership Group from 2023–2025 was an honor—and also a responsibility I didn’t take lightly. I’m grateful for the trust, the collaboration, and the chance to help move a few meaningful pieces forward.
If you’ve ever considered volunteering with COTE—locally, at the state level, or nationally—I’ll say this: the work is real, the people are exceptional, and the impact is absolutely worth the time.
Views expressed here are my own, informed by the privilege of serving alongside many dedicated COTE volunteers and staff.
For BIM Chapters updates, follow @DanStine_MN on X or on LinkedIn
